WHO: during the COVID-19 pandemic, people have become more likely to become infected with fungal infections
Miscellaneous / / April 04, 2023
World Health Organization published first priority list of fungal pathogens. It lists 19 species that scientists consider the greatest threat to human health.
WHO Deputy Head Hanan Balki told The Guardian that during the pandemic, invasive fungal diseases remained in the shadows. At the same time, increasing resistance to treatment is gradually developing, becoming an acute public health problem around the world.
At the initiative of WHO, 400 mycology experts analyzed 6,000 scientific papers to assess the severity of the situation and highlight the most dangerous species. Team leader Justin Beardsley, a scientist at the Institute of Infectious Diseases at the University of Sydney, said: that fungal infections now cause the same number of deaths as tuberculosis, and outnumber malaria.
People around the world have become more likely to become infected with fungi during the COVID-19 pandemic, with in some cases people becoming infected with both the coronavirus and the fungus. Now 4 types of fungal pathogens have received the status of critical:
- Aspergillus fumigatus is a common pathogen that predominantly attacks the lungs. In patients with coronavirus, it leads to a set of symptoms that is called “COVID-19-induced pulmonary aspergillosis.”
- candida albicans - Another common species that causes candidiasis. Like the previous pathogen, it has a high mortality rate among people with reduced immunity: those in intensive care and taking immunosuppressants.
- Cryptococcus neoformans - the causative agent of cryptococcosis, is one of the main causes of death of people with HIV.
- candida auris - a fungus that was discovered in 2009 almost simultaneously around the world. The reason for its appearance is still unknown, but it is believed that until 2009 it simply did not exist. It is resistant to most antifungal drugs. Causes candidiasis, as well as fever and chills, which do not go away with conventional treatment.
The emergence of fungi, previously limited to certain regions, is also noted in other parts of the planet. Part of this may be due to active research, but a more likely reason is changing of the climateallowing fungi to survive in previously unsuitable environments.
The report indicates that only 1.5% of infectious disease research funding goes to the study of fungi. This suggests that in fact the situation is even worse and we are now simply not aware of some of the dangerous species and their prevalence. The situation is worsened by the fact that many treatment methods were created taking into account the limited evidence base and insufficient expert assessment.
So far, there are only 4 groups of antifungal drugs. Their development is hampered by the very nature of fungi. Their cells are similar enough to mammalian cells that what kills a fungus can also kill a human. The authors of the report believe that in the current conditions, additional funding is needed to develop new methods of treating and diagnosing fungal infections.
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